Jungle Trekking - by Bryan

  Itaúba, Amazonas, Brazil Sunday, August 28, 2016

If you'd had asked me would we visit the Amazon on this trip, I would have said a firm NO, as Jody’s fear of eight-legged jungle creatures would take us the long way around the Amazon, but I was to be proven wrong as our planning to get from Rio de Janeiro to England using the cheapest option would take us via the capital of the Amazon, Manaus. Manaus is a central hub for international travelling when dealing with flights and with it being centrally located in South America it makes it a cheap place to fly from.  This also means it is close to the Caribbean, less than a two hour flight, so if planning works out well we can hope for a Caribbean beach before heading back home to England too. Our flight was booked to Manaus, via Belém, it would be an over night flight and two planes, the first just under 4 hours and the second around two hours.  When we landed in Belém we got off the plane at about 4am, tired and all our heavy hand luggage which we had seems to have acquired whilst in Rio de Janeiro for some reason (we are so glad they didn’t weigh them and I’m sure they would have come in over 15kg, may be even 20kg as my arms were falling off). The walk off the plane and in to Belém airport was short, a U-turn after about 200m brought us back to the plane we had just got off.  Yep, your’e right the plane that was going to take us to Manaus would be the same plane.  Oh well back on the plane and said Olá to the cabin crew once again. Manaus is the capital of the Amazon…..  Finally warm weather once again, not that it’s been cold in Rio, but we did get some very chilly days and the warmth of being in the tropics is just wonderful and so warming to the skin. The hotel we had booked into, the Taj Mahal, was a little old, the room however was a lovely size with a view over looking the beautiful opera house and the square. Like all big hotels you’ll also find a travel agent offering you trips, and the Taj Mahal was no different.  Alan was assigned to the Taj Mahal and he showed us possible trips in to the jungle and down the river.  I jumped at the chance of the jungle trip and decided that 2 nights and 3 days would be long enough, which costs R$1,600, about £180.  Jody opted for a day trip down the river and was given a 1000% guarantee there would be no eight-legged creatures. The next morning I got up early and headed off at 9am in a white VW camper which took a group of us to the port, quite a small port with various food outlets and somewhere to stock up on provisions. We boarded a small boat that was just big enough to take the 10 tourists and two guides, plus two more boat crew.This boat took us to the joining of the two rivers, one clear and the other brown and there was a clear line between the two rivers.  While the boat was moving though the river I placed my hand in the water in the cloudy river and as we crossed over to the clear water it was very slightly warmer.  Quite a sight to see the clear distinction between the two rivers.  Also I learnt today that the Amazon river starts at the joint of these two rivers, Rio Negro and Rio Solimôes. After the boat ride we all got in to another white VW Camper, almost identical to the first one, and headed further inland.  Stopping off to see the giant lilies just to take photos, - okay they were large lilies and we took some photos not much else to say about them really.  Five minutes later we were back in the van and finally turning off the main road and heading down a dirt track.  Just so glad it hadn’t been raining as this road would be quite treacherous, but we were lucky it was very dry.We arrived at a small house, and laid out all over the floor were many small motor boat engines, like it was a place were the boat engines were brought to be maintained or repaired.  The grounds around the small house were full of small birds, the ones that caught my attention were the bright yellow ones as they were very colourful. I asked around if anyone knew the name of the bird, I got blank faces from everyone – even the guides! We all boarded another small boat, much smaller than the first one and all our bags were balanced on the front.  We headed what seemed like up river, this really felt like the Amazon now. As we motored along the river we could see the trees clearly covered by the water and no real sign of where the water started or ended.  Occasionally we would see a house some 10 to 15 meters above the water level on a bank and steps leading up from the water edge.  We all then noticed the water marks on the trees, some 5 to 7 meters higher.  This water mark was last months water levels.  Wow! that is some height, meaning that all we could see now would have been underwater. The landscape must change here so much in just the space of a month.We seemed to take a short cut through a narrow and shallow part of the river, which then led us to another river which was much wider and you could clearly see the river banks here, which were much more defined. After about an hour we finally reach our lodge, which consisted of a kitchen and a dining room.  The river ran past at about 2 knots and in the river I could see dolphins swimming around. They looked like they were feeding on the local fish as the birds were flying above them watching for when a fish got away or looked like an easy catch. With us arriving around midday, our first activity would be at 3pm, so we had a few hours to kill. So as you do, I found a hammock and had a snooze for what must have been about 90 minutes, it was lovely and a much needed rest after my early start.First activity - a boat trip to find wildlife, so my expectations are extremely high on this one especially with all the Amazon programmes that are on tv that explain how much biodiversity there is in the Amazon. Well after about an hour we saw next to nothing, a few birds perhaps.  We had headed from the river to what was more of a lake, which was vast and so many routes which headed off in all directions.  I had my tracker on my iPhone tracking all our moves, so I could take a look later to see where we had actually been. We started to head back and then the boat stopped as our guide (Chris) said anyone for a swim? Jumping at the chance I jumped into the water in my pants, it was very warm, around 30°c which surprised me. Also I was finding it very hard to keep afloat as it was fresh water, in fact this is the non-floatiest water I have ever been in.  I had to keep paddling to keep myself afloat all the time, even laying on my back it was quite some effort to keep myself up. We stopped just before entering the river to do some fishing. This was not any ordinary fishing though, it was piranha fishing!Within seconds of the bait going over the boat Richard had caught a small piranha, it had very pretty colours and very sharp teeth.  This one was very small so he let it go.  Then just as quick another one, then another, all very small.   But this one decided to bite Richard on his hand and caused him to bleed.   I was having no luck at catching anything, it felt like I was just feeding them as all they did was eat my bait.Most of us on the boat thought that this was not a good sport as the piranha’s were very small and not worth eating so we all gave up and headed back to the lodge for some dinner (not piranha!). At around 7:30pm we got back on the boat to find some cayman (small crocodiles). It was dark now and we headed back to the lake searching in the shallows for them.  We gave up and finally headed back to the lodge when Chris finally found one. He picked it up and took it back to the lodge for us to look at. All the guests picked him up and handed him around like a toy. I refused as I was not impressed and thought it was wrong, everyone could see the cayman was distressed, but the others continued to handled him all the same. The next morning we woke before sunrise at 5:20am, hopped onto the small boat again and headed back to the lake, this time to watch the sun rise over the Amazon.  It was pretty, not spectacular, but very quite and peaceful and watching the Amazon Rainforest slowly come alive for a new day was very special.After the non-eventful sunrise it was time to get back in the hammock for another nap.  I woke up in time for another venture out into the Amazon, the time was still only 9am and we took the boat which headed back onto the lake.  We went much deeper into the lake this time and landed on a small bank, this was to the start of our jungle walk. The jungle walk was quite a well trodden path, but still we had to move the tree leaves and undergrowth out of our way when we walked.  Chris and our old boatman who was also guiding us, made our first stop when they found a small nut from a tree which when you opened the nut, it had four holes in, each hole had been impregnated with a grub.  The grub was about a centimetre long and about half again in width. Chris got one of the bugs out and ate it!He said yum! yum!, anyone else care to try? After about 5 minutes of everyone feeling sick and saying "no way!" I said go on then why not….? Chris put the small bug onto my hand where it wriggled a little bit, this would have been the first time this small bug had seen the light of day, but there was no time for sympathy for this little bug though - as it was heading for my tummy! That is if I can get it passed my mouth and find the nerve to swallow it. Still holding the small grub in my hand, with everyone else watching I plucked up the courage and in it went.  It played on my tongue for a short while, no time to think now Bryan - just do it! I took a bite, juice squished out of him (yep it’s a boy now), I could taste coconut, yum it was actually quite nice.  A few more bites and then I swallowed. I did it……!Now a few of the others shamed into wussing out – decided to try it but some couldn’t get past that it was a grub and started to gag and reflux before it had even gone down.  It was so funny to watch. Wimps! A little further into the walk we reached a tree that was covered in ants, Chris put his hand on the tree and immediately his hand was covered in ants.  He said the ants don’t bite but secret a liquid onto your hand that is a natural repellent for misquotes.   So without delay this time I placed my hand on the tree, and my hand was covered in ants within seconds. Then I could feel them biting me! I pulled away my hand with such force it took most of the ants with me and they catapulted from my hand to my face and body.  Buggers now I had these small ants over my face in my beard biting all the way.  No…! Now they were biting my arms, chest and back too.  They were only small bites but they were blinking annoying. Okay time to move on, we saw various trees some that smelled like incense and others that you could live off if you needed to survive in the jungle.  As we were not planning on being around long enough to need it, we moved on. At one point, Chris and the boatman, took a vine leaf and slowly turned them into a bracelets for the girls, ah how sweet – they were impressed anyway….! Overall we trekked for three hours on a big loop and then back to the lodge for some food and rest before heading out again. We were going into the jungle for our last night and we would be sleeping out in the open, in the wild, deep in the Amazon rainforest. I was really looking forward to that.We took our rest and set off in the boat again - this time even further into the lake.  We landed on a small point, tied the boat up and walked a short distance to a clearing where there was a fireplace and a man made roof covering.  Clearly this was a place that was used every night on these tours as the fire was still warm and it felt like someone had not long left. First things first - man need fire, man make fire. I’d been on a course and I had my survival pack with me (as I always do when I travel).  So with two of the guys we gathered wood making different size piles of wood thickness so we could make a fire.When we had enough wood, I gave my flint to Nils who within about 5 strikes lit the cotton wool (cotton wool is best because wood needs a very high temperature to set it alight as does paper, so I always keep some dry cotton wool or a tampon with me for these occasions.  Not that I’m a seasoned survivor or anything!)  So the fire was started and it was very easy to get going properly after this.  It’s all in the preparation people! Now it was time to put the hot water on the fire and get some food ready. Two chickens (supermarket prepared…!) were cut in two and placed over the fire to cook.  The cochasa was made into Caipirinhas and we sat by the fire and started to mellow out.  The food was served and our bellies were full. Perfect! The other half of the group had put up all the hammocks under the shade.  Each hammock had it’s own mosquito net. After some debates about Brexit, it was 10:30pm and it was time for bed. Sleeping all night in a hammock is not the most comfortable places in the world.  I even took a pillow with me to help me, which just ended up giving me a sore neck as I was already at a funny angle.  Nevertheless it was not the hammock that would keep me awake in the night.  The sounds of the jungle were very soothing, the calls of the insects, it was like a lullaby in the background.  What did how ever spoil the pretty background noise was the snoring! First from the hammock next to me which was easily remedied by a few shoves and shakes, then someone else started and I could not work out who it was.  There is nothing worse than a loud snoring monster in the same jungle as you! At about 5am, I could hear something getting closer to the camp, was it a leopard? Or another big cat? It steadily got louder and louder, then all of a sudden the morning calls from the howling monkeys started.  They were so close the noise was very loud and very rhythmic.  Away in the distance I could hear other howling monkeys calling too, were they calling each other or just making sure they told everyone else where they were so no one would bother them? Whatever their reason – it was very, very loud!I could also hear a cuckoo in the distance, which at first I took no notice of it and then thought that is a sound I hear back in England.  It was very strange coming from within the Amazon jungle. Finally around 6am the camp woke up and breakfast was being served.  I opted out of the cut fruit and the refried chicken from the night before, as they were covered in flies.  I took a peach still in its skin and used my knife to peal it, I also had a boiled egg.  Both options I thought would be the safest bet and less likely to cause any tummy upsets or spread any unwanted germs. Everyone got back on to the boat and we motored at a slow pace near the trees to see what animals we could find, we caught sight of a monkey, but that was all.Then the boatman took us to a small farm on the banks of the lake, this was a family of local people who invited tourists to their farm. In exchange they asked tourists to buy their locally made products.  It was quite a large farm with the jungle at the back being turned into a farm, growing pineapples, bananas and various other root and fruits, all which they either sold or eat themselves. The small shop they had setup, had a number of handicrafts but mainly everyone was fascinated by the blow shooters with the darts, so almost everyone bought one of those to take back home.Heading back in the boat we stopped once again for a swim in the lake just to cool off and to have a wash from the night spent in the jungle.  Then we went back to the lodge to wait for our boat back to Manaus. Overall I was expecting to see more wildlife in the Amazon, the trees and waterways were amazing and the trip was worth it just to see those.  It was a good trip and worth going on.